Raymond Santana

Raymond Santana (1975-) was a Hispanic youth from New York City who, in 1990, was wrongly convicted of the assault and rape of Trisha Meili in the Central Park jogger case.

Biography
Raymond Santana was born in New York City, New York in 1975, the son of Raymond Santana Sr.. On 19 April 1989, he went to Central Park with a few friends to play basketball and have fun, but, the next day, they were arrested as suspects in the beating and rape of Trisha Meili, which had occurred that same night. Santana was interrogated by Detectives Carlos Gonzalez and Humbert Arroyo, who coerced him into admitting to his role in the rape of Meili, as well as identifying the names of other arrested boys as perpetrators. Santana, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, and Antron McCray were charged with the beating and murder of Meili, and, despite the best efforts of their lawyers, an overwhelmingly negative public opinion against them (fostered by Donald Trump's $85,000 ad calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty) led to Judge Thomas B. Galligan finding them guilty. Santana and the others were released in 2002 after Matias Reyes confessed that he was the real rapist, and, in 2014, Santana was awarded $7.1 million for his wrongful imprisonment.